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The hard part for me is, what does GPS have to do with a quarterdeck watch eyeballs, radar, rules of the road and basic seamanship? GPS tells you where you are. It doesn't tell you where the other guys are or where they're going, does it?

"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress." John Adams

The hard part for me is, what does GPS have to do with a quarterdeck watch eyeballs, radar, rules of the road and basic seamanship? GPS tells you where you are. It doesn't tell you where the other guys are or where they're going, does it?

I think a lot of the commercial ships do not have those. I think it is very possible to put those on autopilot and literally have no one on the bridge. If you slowly trick the GPS, it will stay right "on course", and then you give it larger changes when you are up close and it rams another ship.

I've never been on a DDG, but I've seen them. The bridge does not look very welcoming to easy driving. The carriers I was on have far more visibility. Watch just the first couple of minutes:

I think a lot of the commercial ships do not have those. I think it is very possible to put those on autopilot and literally have no one on the bridge. If you slowly trick the GPS, it will stay right "on course", and then you give it larger changes when you are up close and it rams another ship.

I've never been on a DDG, but I've seen them. The bridge does not look very welcoming to easy driving. The carriers I was on have far more visibility. Watch just the first couple of minutes:

I get that part about commercial vessels. But a huge responsibility of any ship underway is to avoid other ships. That's what the navy should be good at. We used to be, anyway. I sailed on USS Worden (CG-18) in '75-76, out of Yokosuka. Every time we sailed in congested waters, especially Singapore and the Malacca Strait, we essentially doubled lookouts on the bridge wings and aft decks. Simply to watch out for the other guy. I don't guess they do that anymore, or the bridge crew just relies too much on electronics.

That old addage something like "no matter if navigationally you have the right of way, the bigger ship HAS the right of way" or something like that. Common sense to just avoid the larger vessel even if you are in the right.

I sure hope this comes out that we did everything properly to avoid a collision and that it is the complete fault of the commercial vessel.

Last edited by b23hqb; 08-25-2017 at 08:01 AM.

"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress." John Adams

I get that part about commercial vessels. But a huge responsibility of any ship underway is to avoid other ships. That's what the navy should be good at. We used to be, anyway. I sailed on USS Worden (CG-18) in '75-76, out of Yokosuka. Every time we sailed in congested waters, especially Singapore and the Malacca Strait, we essentially doubled lookouts on the bridge wings and aft decks. Simply to watch out for the other guy. I don't guess they do that anymore, or the bridge crew just relies too much on electronics.

That old addage something like "no matter if navigationally you have the right of way, the bigger ship HAS the right of way" or something like that. Common sense to just avoid the larger vessel even if you are in the right.

I sure hope this comes out that we did everything properly to avoid a collision and that it is the complete fault of the commercial vessel.

Given the admiral's relief and stand-down, I think that we were a significant contributor to the problem.

Given the admiral's relief and stand-down, I think that we were a significant contributor to the problem.

Don't know about that just yet. I haven't seen any preliminary report yet, have you? I think whoever, comseventhflt, or any fleet, would have been relieved no matter what just because of the publicity and the number of incidents in a short period. He was scheduled to depart anyway.

My opinion, of course.

"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress." John Adams

Don't know about that just yet. I haven't seen any preliminary report yet, have you? I think whoever, comseventhflt, or any fleet, would have been relieved no matter what just because of the publicity and the number of incidents in a short period. He was scheduled to depart anyway.